Ardian arranges a unitranche financing to support the acquisition of Cyrus Group by its management and employees

The Unitranche financing arranged by Ardian will give Cyrus’ management and employees the financial resources to acquire the minority stake held in the Group by BlackFin Capital Partners, a firm which supported Cyrus in 2012 to accelerate its growth strategy. The transaction increases the stake of Cyrus’ managers and employees, making them the sole shareholders. Beyond the reorganization of the shareholding, the financing also includes an additional committed debt facility to further support the Group’s acquisition strategy.

Founded in 1989, Cyrus is one of the leading independent wealth management advisory firms in France, with €3.4 billion in assets under management. Cyrus specialises in wealth strategy and investment consulting, with its key expertise lying in private wealth management. Since 2010, the Group operates an asset management business (Invest AM) and a property consulting business (Eternam), which have helped upscale assets under management. Cyrus has a workforce of 175, including 60 financial advisors, with 13 offices in France and one in Israel. 

Since its inception, the Group has been majority-owned by its employees, due to its management’s desire to share value creation amongst employees. 

Guillaume Chinardet, Head of Private Debt France at Ardian, said: “We were impressed by Cyrus Group’s track record and the reputation and professionalism of its teams. With a view to a long-term partnership, we are pleased to be able to support Meyer Azogui and the company’s management in its ambitious growth strategy.”

Meyer Azogui, CEO of Cyrus Group, added: “As a major player in wealth management, we want to continue to grow without losing the values which characterise us and which are part of our culture. We support human accomplishment before managing the fruits of this success. With Ardian, we will be able to accelerate our growth while respecting this human dimension.”